🛡️ The Complete Guide to Ensuring Employee Data Protection

In a modern company, protecting employees’ personal data is no longer an option: it’s a legal obligation and a strategic necessity. This is especially important when we talk about deskless teams—workers who do not have a desk, corporate email, or regular access to company systems—and whose main way of contact with the organization is their mobile phone.

When these teams use communication apps like Ommnio, a direct, secure, and efficient door opens to connect with them. But it also implies taking on the responsibility of protecting their personal data.

This guide explains how to do it correctly, complying with the GDPR and adopting good practices that reinforce trust and reduce risks.

What do we mean by “data protection”?

Personal data protection refers to the set of legal, technical, and organizational measures aimed at ensuring that a person’s identifiable information is collected, processed, and stored securely, and always for a legitimate purpose.

In the work environment, this includes data from the selection process until long after the employment relationship ends, such as information stored for tax or legal reasons.

What type of personal data does Ommnio manage?

For the platform to function correctly as an internal communication channel, Ommnio requires each account to include some basic employee data, which are entered by the client company. These minimum data are:

• Name and surname
• Work area or department
• Employee’s position or role

In addition, companies can decide to include other optional data, such as:

• Mobile phone number (to enable individual invitations)
• Preferred language
• Work center or location
• DNI/NIE (for example, if payslips or certificates are shared)
• Other work documents, such as payslips or medical certificates

Ommnio does not oblige the use of functions such as sending payslips or time control: these are optional tools that companies choose to activate if they wish to digitize these processes with their deskless workers. In all cases, the data processed is protected by the GDPR framework, and the platform acts as a data processor, providing a secure and legally compliant environment.

Specific risks in deskless teams

Companies that work with deskless personnel face additional challenges:

• Personal devices: Most use their own mobile phones, outside the control of the IT department.
• Lack of privacy training: It is common for them not to be aware of company policies or regulations such as the GDPR.
• Use of informal channels (such as WhatsApp): This can lead to leaks, lack of traceability, and loss of control over shared data.

What does the GDPR require?

The General Data Protection Regulation applies to all companies that manage data of people residing in the European Union. Some of its key principles are:

• Legitimate purpose: You can only collect data for a clear and necessary objective.
• Minimization: Collect only what is strictly necessary.
• Informed consent: The worker must know what data is collected and why.
• Transparency: The company must be able to explain what it does with the data.
• Worker’s rights: Right of access, rectification, erasure (“right to be forgotten”), and portability of their data.
• Storage limitation: Data should not be kept longer than necessary.
• Security and confidentiality: Appropriate technical and organizational measures must be applied to prevent unauthorized access.
  

Good practices for protecting team data

1. Centralize communication on a secure platform. Using channels like Ommnio avoids relying on WhatsApp or other apps not designed for the work environment.
2. Control access to information. Define what each profile (HR, supervisors, workers) can see to avoid unnecessary leaks.
3. Do not collect more data than necessary. Always ask yourself: why do we need this information?
4. Inform clearly. Include privacy notices when sending forms or collecting sensitive data.
5. Update and delete data when no longer necessary. Conduct periodic audits to detect obsolete information.
6. Train your team in good privacy practices. A brief session with concrete examples is enough for workers to know how to handle their own information and that of others.

How does Ommnio contribute to data protection?

Ommnio has been specifically designed to comply with the GDPR from its technical architecture to its user experience. Some key functionalities:

✅ Granular permission management, to control who accesses what.
✅ Secure channels without the need for corporate emails.
✅ Remote deactivation of users who are no longer part of the company.
✅ Support for informed consent in forms or sensitive communications.
✅ Servers in the EU, with strict compliance with European regulations.

Furthermore, being a communication app designed for workers without email, Ommnio minimizes data exposure by not requiring multiple registrations or external accounts.

Protecting data is also communicating better

A good internal communication strategy begins with something very simple: respect for people. And that includes respecting their privacy and protecting their information.

When you choose a platform like Ommnio, you are not only connecting with your team: you are taking a firm step towards a more responsible, more human organizational culture, and more aligned with current times.

Do you want to check how Ommnio can help you comply with the GDPR?

Request a free demo and discover how to facilitate clear, effective, and secure communication with your deskless team.